Paper roll grab



Oct. 9, 1962 T. J BEAUCHAMP, JR 3,057,654

PAPER ROLL GRAB Original Filed Sept. 5, 1958 H II Jax '1 62 Jfg.

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiiice 3,057,654 PAPER REPLL GRAB Thomas J. Beauchamp, Jr., 5216 Matanzas Way, Jacksonville 11, Fla. Continuation of application Ser. No. 759,359, Sept. 5, 1958. This application Apr. 27, 1961, Ser. No. 106,074 9 Claims. (Cl. 294-86) This invention relates to handling apparatus for paper rolls and more particularly to an improved paper roll grab.

The paper roll grab used in warehouses today employs a crane which dangles the paper grab. This grab consists of a pair of adjustable legs which hang perpendicularly to the floor and are geared to move together or spread apart. The legs are maneuvered by the crane to extend on each side of the paper roll to be lifted. Connected to each leg is the grab foot which consists of a curved metal plate which conforms somewhat to the curvature of the paper roll. By exertion of pressure by the grab legs against the grab foot, the foot presses against the paper roll and enough friction is attained to lift the roll and maneuver it to the desired place.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved grab foot to overcome some of the difficulties encountered in current paper roll grabs. By adding rollers along each edge of the grab foot plate, so arranged that they will each rotate freely and individually, the grab feet need only to be brought near the center of the roll for positively achieving a safe pick up. The free turning rollers quickly and easily adjust the grab foot to a centered position on the paper roll with positive effect, leaving the crane operator with no doubt that the roll may be safely moved.

Many paper grabs have rotating feet that can pick up a paper roll on end and deliver it on side position and vice versa. Since the operator knows that there is no danger of losing his roll when rotating his grab feet so as to move the paper roll from on-end position to the on-side position, he may now do so with complete safety, limited only by the safety of the grab mechanism itself.

For the on-side pick up, the operator needs only to maneuver approximately into the center of the roll and squeeze the legs of the grab into the roll. Then by changing his level, he may home himself into the center of the roll for a positive pick up'without danger of tearing the roll in doing so, because the grab foot would merely roll itself to the desired position.

The invention speeds up the operation by affording a quicker positioning of the grab on the roll. It offers a safer operation by taking away the guesswork involved in the operators attempt to center the grab feet against the paper roll.

Furthermore, a grab constructed in accordance with this invention eliminates double handling for those mills which.

dare not allow on-side pick ups and delivery. The invention virtually eliminates damage to the paper caused by rubbing and scuffing of the grab foot against the roll. A roll may be maneuvered as often as desired without damaging it. Expensive dressing and rebanding of the paper rolls is either eliminated or very drastically reduced.

Accordingly, a specific object of the invention is to provide a paper roll grab foot plate with rollers along the longitudinal edges thereof, the rollers being free turning and adapted to come against the surface of the paper roll when the grab is maneuvered to such position that the feet would ordinarily contact the paper'ro-ll. Therefore, any slight or even large misalignment is automatically corrected by the rolling action of the rolls on the surface of the paper roll. For best results, the rolls are applied on opposite longitudinal edges of the grab plate with the ordinary curvature of the grab plate spacing the rolls so I 82. An intermediate bracket 86 is rigidly secured to foot foot plate pivoted to the end of one leg and duplicating the structure for the other leg, a materially improved paper roll grab results.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevatio-nal view of a grab operatively lifting a paper roll in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of a grab foot of the paper roll grab shown in FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse sectional view of the grab foot on enlarged scale taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the grab foot taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3.

In the accompanying drawings there is a conventional paper roll 19 with a paper roll grab 12 in engagement with its cylindrical side wall. The grab consists of a beam 14 with two legs 16 and 13 pivoted by pins 20 and 22 to the ends of the beam. The center of the beam 14 has a guide sleeve 24 through which push rod 26 is passed;

The push rod has an eye 28 at one end to which a hoist cable 30, chain or rope is attachable. Links 32 and 34 are pivoted by a common pivot pin 36 to the opposite end of the rod 26 and pivoted by pins 38 and 40 to the legs 16 and 15 intermediate the ends thereof.

The outer ends of the legs are provided with feet 42 and 44 respectively, each of which is identical in construction. Therefore, only one foot 42 is shown in detail in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4. Foot 42 is made of a grab foot plate 46 which is smoothly curved in cross section and which has the appearance of a portion of a cylinder. A center spindle or pivot 48 is attached to the outer surface of plate 46 and is mounted rotationally in a bearing 50 at the lower extremity of leg 16 or 18. There are two pairs 52 and 54 of rollers. The pair 52 consists of rollers 56 and 58, and the pair 54 consists of rollers 60 and 62.

Each roller is mounted similarly along the longitudinal,

longer edges of the grab foot plate 46. Moreover, eachbushings smoothly curved so that the ends of the rollers have no sharp projections. An end mounting bracket 7%) has an opening 72 through which one end of spindle 74 is passed. Locking ring 76 or some other standard fastener is at the end of spindle 74 to prevent end play of the spindle. Roller 62 is of a construction identical to the specifically described roller 60. The end of spindle '74 is passed through an opening in mounting bracket 82 that is attached to the plate 46. Fastener 84 adjacent to bracket 32 also prevents end play of spindle 74. Bracket 82 is rigidly secured to grab plate 46 by the inwardly extending plate portion 86 of bracket 82 being mounted to the inner surface of plate 46 and another portion 8 0 being mounted on the outer surface of plate 46, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Bracket is affixed to grab plate 46 is substantially the same manner as bracket plate 46 and has an opening 83 through which the central part of the spindle 74 is passed.

As shown in FIGURE 3, a portion of each roller projects inwardly beyond an extension of the inner surface of the grab foot plate 46 so that the periphery of the rollers makes initial contact with the surface of the paper Patented Oct. 9, 1962' roll when the grab is being used in the manner described herein previously.

This application is a continuation of my co-pending application Serial No. 759,359, filed September 5, 1958, entitled Paper Roll Grab now abandoned.

While only a certain preferred embodiment of this invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art and it is, therefore, desired that it be understood that it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed as new and what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A paper roll grab comprising a pair of spaced legs oppositely facing each other, a pair of grab feet, mounting means for attaching each of said grab feet to a respective said leg, power means for moving said grab feet toward and away from each other, each of said grab feet including an elongated plate having a central leg connecting portion and longitudinal edge portions, each said plate oppositely facing the other when said grab feet are respectively attached to said legs, at least one cylindrical roller rotatably mounted along each of said edge portions, each said roller having an external surface extending laterally from its respective said plate and laterally toward the oppositely facing said plate, said power means being operative to move said grab feet laterally toward each other for nestingly engaging a paper roll between said rollers of said grab feet.

2. A paper roll grab comprising a pair of grab feet being spaced in a horizontal direction and facing each other, a pair of legs respectively mounted to said grab feet, power means connected to said legs for moving said grab feet toward and away from each other, each of said grab feet including an elongated member having a central leg connecting portion and longitudinal edge portions, at least one cylindrical roller for each said edge portion, mounting means for rotatably supporting a respective said roller along a respective said edge portion, each said roller extending laterally from its respective said plate and toward the facing said plate, said rollers of said grab feet adapted and arranged for nestingly engaging a paper roll between said grab feet when said power means forces said grab feet toward each other.

3. A paper roll grab comprising a pair of spaced upright legs having oppositely facing lower end portions, a pair of grab feet, means for rotatably mounting each of said grab feet in oppositely facing relation to a respective said lower end portion, power means connected to said legs for moving said legs and grab feet toward and away from each other, each of said grab feet including an elongated plate having a central leg connecting portion and two longitudinal edge portions, a cylindrical roller mounted on each edge portion and extending laterally from its said plate and laterally toward the oppositely facing said plate, said rollers nestingly engaging a paper roll therebetween when said grab feet move forwardly toward each other by actuation of said power means.

4. A paper roll grab comprising two pairs of elongated cylindrical rollers, a respective mounting element for each said pair of rollers, each said element rotatively mounting said rollers for axial rotation in fixed spaced apart parallel positions thereon, said elements having front and back faces, and means for movably mounting said elements in aligned spaced apart front facing relation with the axes of said rollers parallel to each other comprising a respective supporting leg connected at its one end to each said element at its said back face, and

power means for moving said legs in a direction to move said elements toward and away from each other, the cylindrical surfaces of said rollers projecting from the front faces of their respective mounting elements for nesting engagement with a cylindrical paper roll disposed between said pairs with its axis parallel to the axes of said rollers.

5. A grab foot for a paper roll grab comprising an elongated rectangular plate having a transversely concave inner face, longitudinal side edges, and ends, a transverse center spindle on said plate and projecting perpendicularly therefrom for rotatably mounting the plate in a lower end of a pivoted leg of a paper roll grab, pairs of elongated hollow rollers at opposite side edges of the plate, a pair of roller mounting spindles extending through the pairs of rollers and axially aligning the rollers in each pair, and brackets at the ends of said plate and in the transverse center thereof extending outwardly of the longitudinal edges of the plate and mounting said roller mounting spindles parallel with said longitudinal edges with the rollers of the pairs extending inwardly beyond said inner face of said plate parallel with said longitudinal edges and spaced apart in each pair for engaging a paper roll.

6. A grab foot according to claim 5, said rollers having end bushings therein journaling the same on said mounting spindle and spacing the rollers from said mounting spindle and from said brackets.

7. A grab foot for a paper roll grab comprising an elongated rectangular plate having a transversely concave inner face, said plate having longitudinal side edges and ends, a pair of axially alined hollow cylindrical rollers for each of said longitudinal side edges, a set of longitudinally spaced roller mounting brackets carried by said plate at each longitudinal side edge thereof and projecting laterally outwardly beyond said side edges, a spindle extending through each set of rollers and rotatably journaling the latter, said mounting brackets and spindles positioning said rollers such that their cylindrical surfaces will be positioned laterally inwardly of said inner face whereby the rollers will engage and move upon the surface of a cylindrical article to be gripped and will center said grab foot relative thereto when the latter is moved towards said article.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein the surfaces of said rollers project outwardly beyond both the inner and outer faces and beyond the longitudinal side edges of said plate.

9. A paper roll grab comprising a pair of spaced upright legs having oppositely facing lower end portions, a pair of grab feet, means for mounting each of said grab feet to a respective said lower end portion, power means connected to said legs for moving said legs and grab feet toward and away from each other, each of said grab feet including an elongated plate having front and back faces and two longitudinal edge portions, an elongated spindle positioned parallel to each said edge portion of said plate, mounting brackets afiixcd to said plate for supporting each said spindle at its respective ends, cylindrical rollers respectively mounted for rotation on each said spindle and each having a paper roll engaging surface extending laterally and forwardly from said front face of said plate whereby said rollers nestingly engage a paper roll therebetween when said grab feet move forwardly toward each other by actuation of said power means.

Krausch Nov. 28, 1871 Grigsby Feb. 14, 1950 

